Happy Birthday, Alana!

So, I failed Saturday because I was feeling lazy and Alana bailed me out, AND yesterday I was feeling sick and she didn’t bail me out. So here’s a few-days overdue post of our plans for Alana’s birthday and how they actually worked out. So basically…

We wake up on Saturday, September 8th and Alana is nearly 22 years old, American age. She’d be 23 in Korea. Now, she says she was born around 10 am Pacific time, so it’s not quite her birthday but that’s fine. So, actually at midnight, the night before, Alana opened her presents/cards from my family back home (thanks Mom, Dad, and Andrew for the check) and her family back home, thanks Kai for making so much and being so generous, and thanks mum and Dad for the jandals, tiger shirt, and being so generous. So, back to Saturday morning.

Marga invited us out for breakfast and we found ourselves at 10 a.m. at Tangerine on Iris and 28th. It was SOO busy so we knew it was a trendy spot with most-likely delicious food. Two minutes into the meal we got a surprise when Ben showed up. Ben and Marga got lattes, Alana got a chai, I drank water, and the food came out really quickly (it is breakfast food, but fancy). Alana got a vegetarian eggs benedict highlighted with pesto. The pesto was powerful and the eggs were cooked to perfection, along with some well seasoned taters. Marga got a prosciutto di parma wrapped egg-based dish, I think. It was really good and Ben eventually stole it because he wasn’t in the mood for his classic Belgian waffle with fruits and nuts on top. I couldn’t decide, because being a new pescatarian isn’t compatible at a breakfast place usually, and I got the flight of the pancakes, which is their sampler of three different pancakes. One was classic buttermilk, one was whole grain with some interesting toppings, and one was sweet with ricotta and blueberries on top. The maple syrup was good and by the end of the meal, after some plate passing, everything was finished off.

We sat around for a while and had some great conversation, about the democratic national convention and our political views. It is Boulder after all, so talking about politics was safe for us. Marga and Ben split the bill because they’re awesome. Ben had to leave to coach his girl’s soccer team and, as we left, Marga being the ridiculously nice and thoughtful person she is, gave Alana a present wrapped in a bag and some pet spot smell remover for our kitten accidents.

So, we got back home, Alana opened the beautiful wine glasses from Marga (thank you!) and we decided to go to the Boulder Farmer’s Market. We didn’t need much so we just got some Persian garlic. We walked there and back since it’s close and it was a beautiful day… it’s finally been getting cooler and I hope it wasn’t just a phase. Afterwards, we took a nap with the kitties and really did little to no work or chores.

5:30 rolls around and we have plans to visit my friend in Englewood (near Denver). The Buffs game ended hours ago and the Broncos didn’t have a game so we thought traffic wouldn’t be that bad. Well, it wasn’t LA or New York, but it took 80 minutes to go 33 miles on all highways. We stopped at Whole Foods to pick up some hard cider and a salad for our get together. We were going to make a salad at home, but our greens weren’t fresh and we weren’t about to serve them to friends.

So we roll into Englewood, interesting little area, and Garrett lets us into the parking garage. Now, Garrett was my co-worker at Hollister during high school. We played against each other in soccer and basketball in high school. I went to a small public school and he went to a smaller private school. We were both really bad schools for sports in general so nobody really won or lost. I haven’t seen him since high school because he went to CU Boulder and never returned because he loved it so much. Their apartment is beautiful and twice the size of ours, but they only have an original x-box and no matter how many emulators you have for retro-gaming, after selling 90% of my systems, our gaming is better.

But I digress. I was feeling very sick by the end of the day, but we still had a great time, meeting new people like Garrett’s better half “Lee.” She has a fun story having two parents in the military/government, I can’t say more because then my life might be in danger. Oh well, we just ate and hung out and caught up and can’t wait to see them again. Thanks everyone for an amazing birthday. Oh, and I got Alana a Star Wars the Old Republic graphic novel, Super Smash Brawl, and a huge zodiac tapestry for the bedroom wall. And that’s about it! OH and thank you Grandpa and Grandma Powell for the super generous card!!! 🙂

Sep012012

HEALTHY Whole-Wheat Banana Bread

We usually have a bunch of bananas in the house. For fruit salads and more so primarily, for protein shakes (rahh!). However, sometimes we forget about them, or don’t do heavy workouts, so we feel like we don’t deserve one of Chris’ amazing protein shakes (that post is coming up!). So they sit in the lazy Susan cupboard, lonely for attention.

And so later in the week, I stumble upon them in their browning blackish glory. Aha! I know exactly what to do with you! So, the spotted way-too-ripe bananas get pulled from the cupboard and onto our maniacal counter-top. It’s easy, folks. IF you have over-ripe bananas, MAKE BANANA BREAD. I don’t want to hear any excuses. And if you throw them out…you’re in trouble. Let’s get started. I pulled this recipe from here, but altered it slightly (no nuts, nutmeg, etc.).

Prep Time: 15 minutes (I was slow, watching Empire Strikes Back/Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives)
Cook Time: 50 minutes (on the dot!)
Set Oven To: 350 degrees

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-3 bananas (I suggest more than one, but that’s all I had to work with tonight)
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour

Remember to get out a bread pan and butter it or oil it up. Sticking is your enemy. Now first, beat the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla in a bowl.

Yes, that is a whisk! I’m moving up in the world!

For this next step, make sure the bananas are mashed as much as possible. Then, mix those bananas, eggs, and honey in. I want it smooooth.

You’re almost there!! The final step is to slowly add in the whole-wheat flour. Put a little in, stir it, put some more in, stir it, and so forth. It should come out looking like this:

Then pour it into your already-greased pan. I lost a good amount of the batter to a tragic accident…my appetite.

Now put it in the oven! Remember it should be at 350 degrees. For me, it took exactly 50 minutes to bake. I took it out, tested it with a fork to see if any batter stuck and it was ready! I usually have to stick it in for another ten minutes or so. It came out really well!

Remember that this only has half a cup of sugar in it. That’s barely ANYTHING when it comes to baking. So don’t feel guilty as you shovel this down, it’s got good ingredients. We always love to put butter on ours, gives it a great added flavor, especially when it’s nice and hot.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last long before I could get the picture, so that’s a sliver of a piece. Hope you enjoy!

Oh, and…meow!

Aug302012

Do NOT Touch that Button!

Dread

Let’s admit it: in this day and age, most people have smartphones. Even if you don’t have one, this still applies to you. Most of our work is often connected to our email, which is often connected to our phone, which is often on our bodies at ALL TIMES. It can get incredibly stressful even when you’re not at work, to check your email and boop! a few work emails slide in, reminding about all the tasks you need to get done. It sucks. But it’s also addicting, wanting to know everything that’s being sent to you at all times, wanting to be on top of it all.

For example, I wake up in the morning and the very first thing I do is lean over (groggily) and press my email. A few seconds later, I hear the familiar short buzz, notifying me that there’s something (or multiple somethings) in my inbox. I see 18 New Emails, and my stomach does a turn, half out of excitement and half out of dread. I know there are some things that could be great potential offers, but also some that task more things on my to-do list. Is that the feeling I want to get right in the start of the morning? I’m starting to think not.

So, as my attempts to observe myself and my reactions towards things, I tried to listen to my stress patterns more. There are sometimes where I don’t mind checking over everything I have to do, getting bombarded with emails from “Stop Animal Cruelty!” to the latest work I need to complete that day, and such. But sometimes, I want to be happy in the moment and do whatever I’m doing whether it be cuddling with the kitties, doing some writing, or spending time with my loved ones.

Thus, in order to demonstrate my learned lesson of understanding myself, I tried to follow not always checking it. For example, we were in the gym yesterday, doing a cardio and leg workout. One of our better workouts since we actually had a facility. Not to say we aren’t out of shape, but hey we’re getting there again. Anyhow, I was enjoying the workout, getting into it, having fun and I felt this itch every time I was resting from a leg press or calf raise. What the heck is that? Oh yeah, it’s an itch to check my email, see if I need to get anything done, who’s contacting me, etc etc etc. But I didn’t press it once! I was pretty proud and I was also happy to be in the moment enjoying myself.